The Finca del Niño, The Farm of the Child

The Finca del Niño is well known in rural Honduras. When the tall, white, Americans come walking through the small town of Trujillo, they are assumed to be volunteers or visitors. The Finca has a good reputation among the community. The iglesia, church, in town knows that all 35+ children, house parents, tías, and volunteers come to Mass every Sunday morning. The pale white skin and long gangly arms of the American volunteers make them stick out like sore thumbs. To say the ride into town – a caravan of 3 white African safari vehicles and 15 people standing in the back of a Ford Tundra – catches the eye would be an understatement.

Yet, no one from the Finca seems to mind. They are not hassled nor ridiculed. The volunteers are treated with respect, albeit with a slightly longer pause and stare from those who are not accustomed to the Finca’s presence. For the children, it is the only way they have every seen Trujillo. This is also their only experience outside the Finca property. They do not complain about being associated with 15 gringos. While most American children are embarrassed by their caretakers at some point (i.e. their mother), these children do not act out or react in the way their American counterparts might. All of this is said to show the amount of respect for the Finca del Niño, as well as the respect within the Finca del Niño. This respect is derived from the fact that the Finca is providing so many children with opportunities they otherwise would not have known existed.

The following pages discuss the various aspects of the Finca through which they are attempting to combat the issues of poverty in Honduras.